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The chief executive of Te Taura Whiri says Waikato Tainui's vision that 80 percent of its people in 2050 be speakers of te reo Maori should be embraced by the whole community.
Ngahiwi Apanui says the Maori Language Commission has tried for almost 30 years to keep the language alive by supporting communities of Maori speakers, and it's not enough.
He says the language revival isn't just a task for Maori, and parents get dispirited when they find their kids preferring to speak English because all their peers speak English.
"What we need to do is not just brown up certain spaces where people can speak Maori or are encouraged to speak Maori but get the whole oplace browned up, start talking to the schools about making te reo compulsory in those schools, start talking to the community groups about coming on," he says
Ngahiwi Apanui says Waikato Tainui shouldn't have to pay for language revival out of its settlement assets, as it is a crown responsibility to keep the language alive.
FULL INTERVIEW: NGAHIWI APANUI
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